Dhawan, Murali rise; Kohli slips in ICC Test rankings

Dubai: Indian openers Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay achieved career-best positions but skipper Virat Kohli dropped out of the ICC rankings' top-10 after the drawn one-off Test against Bangladesh in Fatullah.

Vijay has moved up three places to 20th, while Dhawan has vaulted 15 places to 45th. Ajinkya Rahane is the other notable mover and despite missing out on a century, he has climbed up four places to a career-high 22nd to date, the ICC said in a statement. However, Kohli has slipped a rung to 11th.

In the bowlers' chart, Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan have gained one place each and are now 12th and 16th, respectively.

Meanwhile, Australia's Steven Smith became the second youngest batsman after Indian icon Sachin Tendulkar to achieve the number-one spot in the rankings for Test batsmen after stellar batting displays in the Kingston Test, which Australia won by 277 runs to win the series 2-0.

Despite missing out on what would have been his first double century in his 28th Test, Smith has leapfrogged Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka and South Africa duo of AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla following scores of 199 and 54 not out in the latest rankings.

However, Sangakkara will have a chance to reclaim his number-one ranking when he features in the series against Pakistan, which starts in Galle on Wednesday.

It has been a meteoric rise for Smith, who, at 26 years and 12 days, is only a few months behind Tendulkar, who had topped the batting chart for the first time in 1999 at the age of 25 years and 279 days.

Smith has gained 49 points from his efforts in Jamaica, which means he has also broken the 900-point barrier for the first time in his career. He now sits on 913 points, which has given him 24th spot on the list of best Test ratings ever.

In the Rankings for Test bowlers, Australia fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood have also achieved career-best rankings to date.

Starc has moved up four places to 21st after match figures of four for 84, while Hazlewood has also gained four places following match figures of seven for 56 and is now in 27th spot.